Ginsenosides (triterpene glycosides) extracted from roots of 4-7 years old plants of ginseng (common name for Panax species) are important constituents of herbal health care products today. Owing to their strong immuno-modulatory, adaptogenic and aphrodisiac actions, ginseng saponins are widely prescribed in several conditions of health disorders such as anaemia, diabetes, asthma, neuroaesthemia, dyspepsia, convulsion and even in cancer and AIDS. Priced at 750-1000 US $ per kg and with an annual global production of 35-40 thousand tons, Panax roots are the fourth largest selling herbal healthcare product today. Korea, China and Japan have the major share in the global supply of ginseng roots. [Indian pharmaceutical companies import about 400-500 tons of Panax root powder annually.] The chief source of ginseng roots are P. ginseng (Korean panax), P. quinquefolium (American panax) and P. notoginseng (Chinese panax). The Indian congeners i.e. P. pseudoginseng and P. sikkimensis Ban., growing wild in the sub-Himalayan zones (Darjeeling, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh etc.) though found to be on par in saponin quality and content with their oriental counterparts, have not yet been commercially exploited. Traditional field cultivation of Panax sp. is very slow and labour intensive. It takes 18-22 months for the seed to germinate (following 2-3 stratification cycles to break seed dormancy) and an extended gestation period of 3-5 years for the crop to mature and provide economic root biomass yield and quality of saponins. Tissue culture based strategies for rapid propagation (micro-cloning) and in vitro ginsenoside production in Panax, therefore, hold immense promise and potential.